And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.

~ 1 John 2:28

You know that moment when you finally finish a big project. Sure, there’s always more to do, but something big is done, and you just sit to bask in the feeling of completion? I was there recently. I had finished up a huge project that had been a year in the making – and it felt good!

Of course I was already working on promoting the finished project, and I had at least 4 other big projects on my desk, but the afterglow of finishing one was enormous. I even put away my clean clothes that had been sitting in a basket in my room for who knows how long.

The temptation to bask in the afterglow of finishing a big project weighed heavy, but our work is never done. I love the verse in 1 John above, because it reminds me that even when one thing is finished, I need to continue living for Christ. That way when He comes, He won’t find me wasting time, but working for Him and for His glory. It’s just like the Bible is saying to me, “Great, you’ve finished a project. That’s awesome, and now, continue to work to bring Christ even more glory. Don’t stop; keep up the good work so that when I Christ comes back, you will have done everything that I asked you to do.”

I remember something that my youth pastor said back when I was in high school that has always stuck with me. He asked us how we would feel if when we got to heaven God asked us why we had never read His Word. Would we be happy to tell Him that we didn’t find it interesting, or that we didn’t have the time? Probably not. As a writer, I can’t help but think how I would feel if I got to heaven and God asked me why I didn’t write what He called me to. Would I be happy giving the answer that I had finished one project and I thought that was good enough? Again, probably not.

My newest book, “A Year in Book Marketing,” has been a difficult one for me to complete. It’s being published in two parts, the first part coming out January 1st, 2013. I’ve been writing and helping other authors since 2009, and I know God has big plans for this book. It helps authors to continue on sharing the message that He gave them by marketing the books they have written for Him. If you’re an author, or know one, I highly encourage you to check it out. You can learn more about it at: http://authorheatherhart.blogspot.com/p/book-marketing.html

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Helping other authors since 2009, Heather Hart is the author of “Book Marketing 101” among other titles. She lives in Texas with her husband, Paul, where she fills her days caring for their four young children, typing away on her computer, and brainstorming new marketing ideas. Heather works as a self-publishing-coach.com liaison, author, and authors assistant whose desire is to glorify Christ through her work and to help other authors do the same. You can learn more about Heather by visiting her website: http://authorheatherhart.blogspot.com/

Like this:

Over the next couple of posts, I simply want to share some thoughts about the song, “The Well” by Casting Crowns.

The opening words are haunting, especially in their repetition. “Leave it all behind… Leave it all behind…”

Those words beckon us, weary travelers on life’s path, away from the hustle and bustle of our busy, over-crowded lives. In them Christ, through the lyrics, calls us out, away, and apart from those things that tie us down, weigh us down, and make our lives feel so very heavy and hard.

When was the last time you left it all behind?

When was the last time you took even five minutes that wasn’t filled with thoughts of bills to pay, kids to pick up, how to fix that, how to do this, who needs what tomorrow, and how am I ever going to get that done today?

If you’re like me, it’s way too easy to wake up in the morning, sit up and start processing. Who needs to be where today? What do I need to get written? Who do I need to call? What do I need to finish? What do I need to start?

It’s like this whole long army of thoughts and to-dos that never quite seem to end.

I think that’s why those opening words are so very powerful to me. In a way, they call me to be Mary rather than Martha, when the truth is Martha is so much easier to be. They call me to yes, leave the cares and worries and STUFF behind, and come and sit with my Savior. It is a call away from chaos into peace, a call away from myself into the One Who makes everything make so much more sense.

It is easy as I hear these opening words to think of leaving everything behind, if only for a moment, and going to visit Jesus at that well. It is so enthralling to think of Him waiting there for me, a fresh drink of Him and His love waiting for me. Not because I got everything done on my to-do list. Not because He’s got five other jobs I need to do. But just because He wants to spend some time with me, and I want to spend time with Him.

I don’t know how you spend time with God, or even if you do. But in this crazy busy, often chaotic season… the one in which we work so hard to be able to celebrate peace, take a few minutes today to leave it all behind, to just go and sit with God, to listen, to slow down, to just be.

There are many truths woven into this beautiful song, but I want to take a moment today to elaborate on the wisdom of one word: Come.

In the first video I watched of the song, there was one incarnation of this word that was misspelled. However, I probably would have misspelled it as well if I would just have been transcribing based on the way you would think it would be said, rather than the profound truth of how they chose to say it.

This time happens toward the end when they sing about after you have come to the well and others begin to see the living water flowing in your life. It says, “Soon all the world will see, living water is found in Me, ’cause you come to the well.”

In the first video, the lyric was “’cause you came to the well.” That’s how I would have written it, but that’s not right. See, we think, okay, you’re empty and broken, and you go to the well, and God fixes you. Period. End of story. You CAME to the well, and now you’re healed and can go on with life. Ah, but that’s not what the actual lyric says!

In the video I gave you here, it says, “cause you’ve come to the well.” And honestly that might be what the actual lyric says. However, I think that too is a fundamental misinterpretation of the true lesson here. “You’ve…” you have… again past tense.

But that’s NOT what God wants. And from deep personal experience, that’s not the way it works!

God truly working in you is not a one-and-done thing. You don’t go to the well and get healed and you’re done.

Life will continually throw things at you–new challenges, new issues, new incarnations of old hurts. And you have to KEEP going to the well. Yes, your salvation is worked out in the first trip if you accept what Jesus is holding out to you, but your LIFE must be going back to the well.

I know for me, I can be going along great and then BAM! I’m thrown off-track. Maybe it’s an illness or a serious challenge, maybe it’s something with my kids, my friends or my husband. And once again, I’m empty and scared. I don’t know which way to go, where I’m going or how to get there.

The secret I’ve found is in going back to The Well–The Answer… Jesus.

I didn’t go to the well once. I go every day, often multiple times each day.

I don’t shine because I came to the well once. I shine because I COME to the well often. I recognize my need for The Well. I recognize how often I have asked the world to fill that need, and how poorly it has done. We will talk about some of those things pointed out so beautifully in the song next time. For now, know that you can go to the well any time you need, and Jesus will always be right there to let you simply rest for a moment in His arms. Ahhh!

“True Power & Real Peace”

Where did the idea come from?

True Power & Real Peace was written backward. Some of you have read “A Light in the Darkness.” In that book, the hero, Gabriel reads a book about God. When I wrote “A Light” I realized that I couldn’t have him read something that’s already been published. There were two problems with that. First, I couldn’t just copy whole tracks of someone else’s work. Second, there wasn’t one book I could find that would speak to each issue he was having throughout the book.

So the only thing TO do was write the book he was reading in the story as if it was a real book. To do that, I had to write whole sections of a “real book” that wasn’t real. After “A Light” was finished, I went back and read it and it struck me how easily “True Power & Real Peace” COULD be a real book. I did a little work on putting the pieces together and filling in the in-between places, and that’s how this book was written.

After “A Light in the Darkness” came out, I had several readers write to say they had been looking for the book “True Power & Real Peace” and hadn’t had any luck finding it and could I tell them who it was by or how they could get a copy of it. Well, it was by me, and the only copy in existence was on my computer. That’s when I decided to publish it.

Genre: Spirituality, Inspirational, Christian Living

What actors would play your character in a movie version?

The actors for “A Light in the Darkness” are Meaghan Jette Martin and Adrien Grenier.

Holly Jacobs can run from her mother’s past no longer. She is unceremoniously summoned to her mother’s new fiancé’s home in Napa Valley. The place is wonderful, but Holly can’t enjoy it because she knows that just like all the others, it can’t last. When her mother begins pushing Holly to make permanent plans with a young man Holly has no interest in, Holly takes off, never expecting to find a light in all of her darkness.

The final chapter of the Faith Series begins…

Publisher: Spirit Light Publishing

How long did it take to write the first draft of “True Power”?

Well, the first-first draft was written inside “A Light in the Darkness,” and that book took about four months to write. The actual first draft of “True Power & Real Peace” was a lot harder because I had to take the pieces that were already written and put them into logical order (Gabriel reads them out of order in the book). Then I had to write the pieces around it. Also, I was in no hurry for that one because I didn’t think it would ever really be published. So I’m honestly not sure how long it took to write.

What other books in the genre compare?

Two of the books referenced in “True Power” are John Ortberg’s “Love Beyond Reason” and Marianne Williamson’s “A Return to Love.” So those two definitely would compare although Ortberg’s book is more mainstream Christian and Williamson’s has more New Age overtones to it.

Any other in this genre?

I’ve never written in this genre before. In fact, I’m in the process of asking what genre it would even fit into because I’m really not sure.

Anything to add?

“True Power & Real Peace” is BY FAR the most personal book I’ve ever written. It gets to a depth of how I live that I don’t think I would have even attempted to write but for the crazy way it came about. My life has been rocked by some pretty intense storms during and since writing this book including–the suicides of two very close people in my life and my son’s dyslexia, not to mention the countless storms that come up each day while being married and raising three kids.

This is honestly a book about “how I do it,” how I have and maintain a deep relationship with God through the storms and in the quiet times. It’s also the key that kept me sane when I had everything I ever wanted and I was still miserable.

Still, how do you put all that into words? How do you dig way beneath the surface and fashion those feelings and experiences in a way that is understandable to others? I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t, but this would have to be considered my attempt at doing so.

The ebook will be out very soon, and you can judge for yourself how well or poorly I did.